We are so deep at RB that I would much rather see someone else back returning kicks than Shontrelle. He's a big play threat, but I think it's too risky, plus we want his legs fresh for the first play of the drive.

Staff MemberBookie

We are so deep at RB that I would much rather see someone else back returning kicks than Shontrelle. He's a big play threat, but I think it's too risky, plus we want his legs fresh for the first play of the drive.

I think that kick return is too big of a play to bench him IMO. We are deep enough at RB to afford SJ returning kicks. When SJ is not in at RB, we dont lose the ability to pick up yards, we lose big play potential. Well, not many plays have as much big play potential as kickoff return. This all has to deal with stamina and not injury possibility, which is another thing entirely.

What about that kid from Omaha...wasn't he a returner? Or the one from St. Louis? Or are those guys rs/2012 kids?

EDIT: I was thinking Lampkin, Standard and Nealy. Weren't these guys good returners/ track guys? Lampkin I thought could help right away unless they're gonna use RS on them. Anybody know right now on these 3 or still to early to tell?

We are so deep at RB that I would much rather see someone else back returning kicks than Shontrelle. He's a big play threat, but I think it's too risky, plus we want his legs fresh for the first play of the drive.

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They ought to give Lampkin or Nealy a shot at kickoff returns. I think they could potentially be just as dangerous back there as SJ.

The best guy should be back there. Between Kirby and our best returners, we should be able to win the field position battle in almost any game we play. If it's our starting running back, so be it. Especially since he has a "bring it on" mentality about it.

â€œAs a staff, with Coach Rhoads making the final call, we will see how much Shontrelle can handle,â€ said Iowa Stateâ€™s kickoff return coordinator and wide receivers coach Courtney Messingham. â€œI want him back there obviously because I think that he is an explosive player who can make big plays for us.â€

It seems a little odd for an assistant coach to be talking like this to the media. However, it is so much better than during the Chizik era when no one ever said anything of substance in public. Rhoads is really cool about letting things lay out before the media.

Shontrelle might say that he wants to return kicks, but if I were the coach, I would have just said "He is an awesome threat when he has the ball in his hands and we want our guys to want the ball in their hands. We'll let you know soon who will be returning kicks."